V3 Chapter 3

The Black Lands, just like the outside continent has many varying races.

Monsters, Demi-humans, Beastmen, Elves, Barbarians, and many more. They have their own groups that were trying to vie for supremacy in this land. Most of the human-like races on this land weren’t purebred humans such as the Barbarians, the Stonemen, Titanians, Footmen, and a lot more, and they are much powerful than normal human beings in particular aspects.

However, out of all these different races, the monster race was the most powerful.

Their population was extremely high and they had many Monster Kings and Beast Lords in their ranks. Such as the Monkey King, Serpent Empress, Spider Queen, Giant Ogre King, and such. The members of the monster race naturally had inborn magic talents and unique skills that made them stand out within the Black Lands.

According to the quality of their bloodline, different unique skills and abilities were possessed by them. And most importantly, they were a brave and fierce race with varying types, a truly terrible force to be reckoned with.

At this time, in the monster race’s Monster Alliance Palace, in a vast hall, there was a rectangular stone table.

Eight people were sitting around it. The one sitting in the honored seat of this stone table was a large middle-aged man.

This man was 15 feet tall, twice the height of an adult male. His hair was blood red, his face was handsome, and his eyes were as deep as pure rubies. Looking into his eyes made one feel trapped and unable to look away.

As he sat there in his seat, he was like an unfathomable sea that gave off an unpredictable feeling.

This middle-aged man was one the monster race’s Monster King; Flame Tyrannous Winged Lion King; Atras!

The Monster Alliance Palace was an allied union of all Monster races to avoid war to once again enveloped the Black Lands. It was established a few hundred years ago after the entire land had been ravished by a horrible war among all races to ensure peace would continue. To avoid a war happening again, the leaders of the Monster races proposed a truce. Now, all large Monster groups followed the Alliance rules and minded their own territories, and would not wage war without any reasonable reasons.

As per tradition, after a unanimous vote, the Flame Tyrannous Winged Lion King; Atras took the mantle of the leader of the Alliance. Though, the leader didn’t have any real power and instead just a leader-like figure. Whenever there is a matter to be decided, all must have a vote among members. It's truly a democratic way of governing the unified races of Monsters and Demi-humans.

Sitting at the other end of the table was a white-clothed girl. This girl was tall, but compared to most Monster Kings in the hall, she seemed as small as a child. This girl held a cup of wine in her hands and her legs were relaxed outwards in a completely comfortable and leisurely posture. She didn’t have the least bit of respect towards this dignified occasion.

This white-clothed girl was the Princess of the only Kingdom consisted of the only humans in the Black Lands. They called themselves the descendants of Gods, hence they were quite prideful and arrogant.

The reason she came to the Allied Palace of the monster race today was to settle some accounts with the monster tribes.

The atmosphere of this meeting hall was solemn. Currently, many other supreme elders of the monster race were respectfully sitting here. It was only the Kingdom’s Princess posture that was disrespectful. In this situation, crossing her legs elegantly and drinking wine with an arrogant expression was extremely impolite.

“Your Highness Iris…”

The enchanting woman who followed the Princess reminded her.

Princess iris faintly smiled.

“It’s no problem at all. We came here to work together and thus what matters is our mutual interests and not whether or not I am respectful. If the monsters were to reject me just because of my manners then they would have never been able to last in the Black Lands for so long. For the monsters to maintain their own lands in this warring age isn’t easy at all.”

The Human Princess smiled, not bothering to conceal anything.

At the other end, the Monster Emperor laughed as he listened to the Princess words.

The monster race was truly at odds with humans.

Both of them shared the same land and thus it was inevitable that both sides came into conflict over various benefits and resources. In history, there were even great wars that were waged between humans and monsters. In fact, the Great War that had occurred before was mainly between the Monster Race, the extinct Demon Race and lastly, the Human race. And this Great War had almost resulted in the World’s destruction.

Well, it was mostly- Monster and Human Alliance, against the Demon Race. And they had won that war, killing and erasing the Demon race completely in the surface of the world.

It wasn’t wrong to say that the humans were powerful due to their God Bloodlines, but the monsters were equally deep in their background. Now that the malevolent Demons had been extinct in the Land, if humans really wished to start an absolute genocide against the monsters, their win is not guaranteed. And also, if monsters wanted to conquer the entire Black Lands, they also cannot disregard the Humans as even if they would win, they would have to pay a deep price and lose several Demi-Gods in the process.

In addition, the Black Lands might once again become uninhabitable due to the aftermath of the war. These were consequences that even the Monsters dreaded. And because of that, even with the Monsters greed, or the Human's, no one dared to start a war.

In addition, beneath the cover of this fear, the monster race was able to continue onwards.

For the last several hundred thousand years, without the mischievous and cunning demon race, the humans and monsters were actually able to peacefully coexist. Though, with minor conflicts here and there. Still, they are able to come to a consensus.

The Monster King didn’t mention the deep history that the monsters shared with the humans. He merely took out a crystal ball from his spatial ring and tossed it at the Human Princess, “Human princess, take a look at this. If you came here to cooperate with us then I’m afraid you’re one step too late.”

Princess Iris furrowed her brows and caught the fist-sized crystal ball. Her hands then glowed brightly as magic power was channeled through the crystal ball. Immediately after, the familiar symbol of an eye within a sun symbol appeared—the symbol of the Oracle of Light.

This was a treaty between the humans and the monsters.

The summary of it was that humans and monsters would join forces to withstand this great calamity.

And this Great Calamity was now in front of their doorstep.

Hence, the Human must honor the oath taken.

It was a call.

As the Princess saw a message appearing above the crystal ball, she wasn’t surprised at all. She merely smirked and tossed the crystal ball onto the table.

“The return of the Demons, is it?” she muttered with a bemused expression.

“You call us for this… ?”

“… …”

“The Demons had been extinct for several thousand years now. Not even a drop of accursed blood could be seen wandering around! You should have known that… their return is impossible unless the great barrier gets destroyed, and the Black Lands would return to the Vast World. But we all know that it wouldn’t, even after another thousand years. How could it be possible for a demon to appear again in the Black Lands?” she asked with a contemptuous snort.

“Is the Human Princess trying to avoid the Oath spoken by your ancestors? Or were you trying to say the Oracle was a fraud?”

The Lion King frowned, and his eyes narrowed dangerously. A fierce aura appeared around him.

The Oracle was a respectable person, in both Humans and Monsters. In fact, the Oracle was the bridge that connected the two races, and able to create this so-called treaty of Alliance. In fact, after the last war, if not because of the Oracle, both would have continued fighting until the last one standing, generating the current peace and tranquility that both humans and monsters shared for the last thousand years. And now, the Oracle being disrespected, the Monster race who revered the Oracle was angered.

The atmosphere tensed.

And air solidified.

But still, Princess Iris was not the least bit unperturbed. She smiled amidst the sharp gleam of her eyes; “That’s not what I’m talking about. But we all know the truth behind my words. There’s not even a sign of a demon appearing on our lands these past hundreds of years, do you think we would believe it immediately just because you say so?” she smirked, her body shining brightly after exuding her own magic power.

“Furthermore, the Oracle of Light has not been seen for countless years already…how would we know that this is by her hand?”

“… …”’

Crack!

The air broke, and a strong gust of wind ushered in.

Electric sparks appeared in the air, as two heavy auras clashed together.

“Do you really think that the Human Empire would easily be swayed with mere words, Lion King!”

The beautiful human princess made a growl, and her eyes gleamed crimson.

For the humans, even if they didn’t think they could obtain the support of these different races, they at least had to avoid them being swept up by the Monster Kings who had ruled over most of the Black Lands. If that happened then humanity would be stabbed in the back by their enemy, leading to their inevitable defeat!

As for the monsters, whether it was the demons or humans, they were all alien races. The monsters didn’t care which one of them ruled the Black Lands as they were certain that whichever race would emerge victoriously, they would still hold the same survival.

Humans and Demons cannot cooperate, even before ancient times. Hence, they are not afraid of being attack by both sides. At the same time, their powers and forces are also stronger compared to each side. Hence, they really didn’t care who to allied with or become an enemy.

All that mattered to them was who could give the monster race the greatest benefits.

In a sense, this great calamity could even be called an opportunity for the monsters.

They could take this chance to search for the greatest benefits to allow their race to prosper into the future.

However, Princess Iris seemed to understand this as well. She never trusted the Monster Race to begin with. Unlike her kind and benevolent father, Princess Iris held the human race as superior, and unequal. And she had never trusted the Monster race, even the Beastmen. She knows in the last war that had occurred, in the Lost Century, the Monsters are the ones who almost pushed the Human race into a corner, while the Beastmen, who pretended to be an ally, immediately betrayed them and stabbed them in the back, leading to the High Humans great defeat.

If not for the fact, that the Demons who call upon the Taboo Beast like idiots and wreaked havoc, the High Humans, the prideful descendants of the Gods would have been driven to extinction by both of them. Just because they couldn't defeat it, they immediately changed their colors and shamelessly called upon a truce.

For the one who had carried those blood, Princess Iris detested the two races deep in her heart.

“…The appearance of the Demon said in the prophecy had not yet been verified. And so, our Human race will withhold our decision till then,” she said with a cold sneer.

“What if it becomes too late?”

One of the Monster Kings muttered in displeasure.

“Hmph, only fate will answer that. Even if the demons really resurface again, the Human race will be enough to deal with them. And we had chased them once, why can’t we do it again?” Princess iris declared confidently.

The Monster King was still unconvinced, but when he was about to say something suddenly—

A golden pillar appeared on the horizon and a terrifying amount of magic power covered the entire land.

“This is?!”

All the Monster Kings present, even Princess Iris and her attendant sprung from their location and looked towards the golden pillar of light.

“It finally opened once again!”

“The Ruins!”

Their eyes widened in shock… at the same time, all of their eyes flashed a greedy excitement.

… …

The Winter Mountain had always been a place that was widely known for its horrifying danger. Much less, the Black Lands. If the Winter Mountain was a deadly place, then this place was twice deadly. The monsters and people in this place were beyond anyone’s imagination, that sometimes Cian wondered if this was a place meant for dangerous criminals in ancient times.

The mountain range rises and falls endlessly. It is covered with ancient trees that were sky-high, occupied by countless monstrous beings, and coated with strange and unidentifiable plants and flowers. It was a treacherous place, but at the same time, it was a precious place. The Sun was hanging high in the sky and scattering soft lights down on Earth. The light peeked through the leaves and the trees, adding warmth to the dark and shadowy mountains.

In the middle of the jungle, two shadows; one in black while the other a feline beast dashed forward at full speed. With the agility of a monkey and the grace of a butterfly, the youth in black was heading straight toward the pillar of golden light. Beside him was a lion-like beast that seemed to be running through clouds with insane blurry speed. Monsters that tried to ambush them could only turn around, the moment they felt the staggering aura of the beast it was releasing.

It was none other than Cian and his Manticore; Leona.

The endless towering hills and mountain ranges flashed before his eyes. Cian’s feet never stopped running at full speed, and his facial expression was darker than usual. He could feel the growing eeriness of the area as he stepped closer. His heart, on the other hand, was veiled with a strange excitement. He had never even stepped into this land before.

The Valley of Serpents that was known as the Serpent Empress territory. However, he didn’t stop and flew towards his destination.

“Indeed, my heart is beating fast…as if excites me—something is coming…is this the ruins?”

Watching the golden light that pierced through the cloud and shot up to the sky, Cian mumbled to himself. He knew that even though the mountains appear to be quiet and serene, it was the calm before the storm.

A bloody rainstorm was brewing behind the curtain of clouds.

And this heavy stench was calling upon him.

Suddenly, a series of crisp and light footsteps came from afar.

Cian frowned. Tiptoeing, he jumped onto an old tree branch and stealthily hid behind tree leaves. The Manticore also went beside him. However, hers was more dramatic as the lion’s body seemed to be slowly disappearing, like a chameleon. An incredible ability it had obtained through Cian's experimentation.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Cian recognized that it was a human’s footstep.

For it to be so light, it must be a woman.

……